Monday, March 3rd – Stephen returns to the Monday slot, and talks about an argument that’s as old as the hills… is the role of Luck in Magic greater than the role of Skill? Does Luck devalue Skill in the overall scheme of the game? Strangely, Stephen believes that, far from inhibiting the skillful, Luck makes Magic a more skillful game… and he’s got the mathematical proof to back up his claim.
Monday, March 3rd – Like many players this Extended season, I’ve grown a bit frustrated with a format that allows so many variables to be relevant. Affinity, Dredge, Next Level Blue, Previous Level Blue, Goblins, Enduring Ideal, TEPS… the list of playable archetypes stretches on and on and on. With that in mind, I set out to sculpt an archetype that would focus on beating the most popular decks most of the time…
Monday, March 3rd – Learn about a deck that’s ripe for beginners, rewarding for experienced gunslingers and endorsed by U.S. National Champion and brainiac Luis Scott-Vargas! Doug takes a look at Enchantress this week, exploring the ins and outs of the deck and presenting an inexpensive introductory deck for players who are new to the format. Learn general strategies and techy plays in this feature of Unlocking Legacy!
Friday, February 29th – In the last Levelling Up article for the forseeable future, Portugal’s Tiago Chan walks us through his second draft from Pro Tour: Kuala Lumpur. He also tells us how he views his future, and his standing in the Pro Tour and Magical communities, before hanging up his hat and strolling into the sunset. Thanks for the articles, Tiago. Good luck in all your future endeavors!
Friday, February 29th – Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to see some highlights from my weekend in Charlotte, including some unseen footage from players there, talk about the statistical power of the StarCityGames deck database, review upcoming Banned and Restricted list revisions due on March 1st, enlighten you with some Jon Finkel facts and we reach a new Magic Show milestone. Let’s go!
Friday, February 29th – The Goblin tribe in modern Extended is an unusual beast. Recent printings have given Goblin players new tools if they want to use them… but change is always a contentious thing for some, and thus we see decklists with numbers like “1x Frogtosser Banneret†or “2x Frogtosser Banneret.†People like what they are comfortable with, and tend to not respond well to change… even changes for the better.
Friday, February 29th – Grand Prix: Vancouver was an interesting event. It was nice to see some PT friends before heading back home, and I had some interesting conversations with all manner of people. On the topic of Ninjas, LSV had the following to say: “It seems like a good Tier 2 deck, if you play it perfectly and your opponent makes mistakes.â€
Thursday, February 28th – The results from Grand Prix: Vancouver are in… and the Top 8 decks are a genuine shock to the metagame. Blue/Green Tron, TEPS, Previous Level Blue… and no Doran or Dredge decks?! For those of us slogging it out at the PTQ, what exactly does this Top 8 mean to the local metagame scene? Richard takes us through the ins and outs of processing Top 8 results…
Thursday, February 28th – While there are many aggressive options for the combat-loving mage, it seems that the whole Magic community has fallen in love with Obsidian Battle-Axe. The Japanese brought us the Green elf versions of the deck, and today Kyle brings us his own spin on the archetype. He thrashes it through some games against the other top contenders in the metagame, with pleasing results. Intrigued? Then read on!
Thursday, February 28th – Obsidian Battle-Axe has certainly gotten a lot of press and has been seeing play in Standard. Today, Dave explores how each of the races with Warriors can use Obsidian Battle-Axe to beef up into… the Ultimate Warrior! Or, at least, a pretty good Warrior.
Thursday, February 28th – My name is Abe, and I’m your doctor with an MD in Casual, bringing healing to the casual masses. Today I want to do something that seems like a lot of fun. I want to bring to you a bunch of top ten lists, and then discuss my choices. Sounds simple enough, right?
Wednesday, February 27th – At present, the Vintage metagame is evolving at an alarming rate. With successful deckbuilds in a state of constant flux, it pays to be flexible when planning for events. For a recent Vintage tournament, Stephen decided to shelve a deck on which he’d lavished months of attention in order to run with the New Guy in Town: Rich Shay’s innovative Tyrant Oath. This is his story…
Wednesday, February 27th – Each week, Benjamin Peebles-Mundy takes us through some of the more intricate and popular Standard decks, examining builds and showing us the way to success. At the StarCityGames.con $5000 Standard open, it was time to put his money where his mouth is. If you followed Evan’s video coverage this past weekend, you’ll know he did well. Click here for the story straight from BPM himself!
Wednesday, February 27th – Going into the tournament, I suspected that the metagame was changing in a way that was bad for actual Counterbalance decks. The card Counterbalance itself is best against the mirror and against midrange decks that actually give you time to set up a lock, and quite bad against decks that are very fast, play spells that cost tons of mana that you can’t use Counterbalance to stop, or both.
Wednesday, February 27th – Magic skill, like the term “intelligence,†is fairly difficult to explain. It’s not hard to define; “ability at manipulating specific sets of operations†works for most cases. But that definition doesn’t really cast light on the number one question that follows from it: namely, “Why can some people manipulate more of those operations than others?â€
